Everything was a source of privilege for the nobles. The Feudal System was sustained by the rights and privileges given to the Upper Classes and in most cases enacted by laws. Some kings and powerful lords could maintain armies paid in cash from taxes, including taxes on trade. Daily life in the Middle ages was dictated by wealth, power and status and the feudal system. A warrior class could be hired, rather than secured by exchanging land for military services. Peasants could move off the land and into the towns. With the growth of a money economy based on trade, land could be rented for cash. Knights were expected to be not just loyal to their lords, but to observe Christian virtues and become defenders of the faith, supporting the Church and fighting just wars, according to Church doctrines.
It started developing in the 9th century, when Viking raids in Western Europe became frequent, and began to break down in the 14th century as the population increased trade grew and towns grew up.Ĭhivalry was the code of behavior expected of the nobility under feudalism. When did feudalism exist, and for how long?įeudalism grew up in the Middle Ages, and was an active system from about 1000 A.D. Outside the nobility and the Church, commoners were either serfs, or later, as towns grew up, engaged in craft work and trade. Within the hierarchy of the Church were some members of the nobility - usually at the top - and some common people, usually at the bottom. Another social class was made up of members of the Church. There were very few nobles, but the wealthiest ones were very powerful. It was possible to be a very wealthy noble, with lots of land, but some knights might own very little land. A knight was a member of the nobility, too. The nobility included the land-owning aristocracy: kings, dukes, earls and other titled aristocracy. What social classes existed in the feudal system? Serfs also had to give part of their crops each year to their lord. In exchange for work on the lord’s land, called the demesne, the peasant, also called a serf, was granted strips of land of his own to farm. Peasants were required to work on part of the lord’s fief, called the manor.
The oath required the nobles to become vassals and be loyal to their lord they had to defend him and his lands when required. Members of the nobility could make an oath of fealty to a powerful lord in exchange for a grant of land, called a fief.
By putting themselves under the protection of a powerful member of the nobility, called a lord, people could have more security.įeudal contracts were based on the exchange of land for service. In the absence of strong central government, a group called the nobility emerged. FAQ’s: Feudalism in Western Europe During the Middle Agesįeudalism was a social and economic system that gradually arose in Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire.